Straight Arrow Lesson
The simplest of Jeremy Harmer's three ESA lesson shapes: Engage, then Study, then Activate, in that order, once each. The metaphor is a single arrow flying from initial interest to final language use, with the language work compressed into the middle.
Sequence and rationale
A straight-arrow lesson begins with an Engage stage that hooks learners into the topic — a picture, a question, a short anecdote, a brief discussion — and surfaces enough context that the language to come will land in something rather than nothing. The Study stage presents the target language: meaning is established, form is highlighted, pronunciation is modelled, and learners do controlled practice that constrains them to the new item. The Activate stage releases that constraint, asking learners to use the target language alongside whatever else they know in a task whose primary purpose is communication, not accuracy on a single point.
The shape overlaps substantially with PPP: both are linear, both move from controlled to freer use, both place explicit input early. ESA's vocabulary differs because Harmer wanted terms that describe what learners are doing rather than what the teacher is presenting, but the underlying order is similar enough that PPP plans translate cleanly into straight-arrow plans and vice versa.
When it works
The straight arrow suits low and elementary levels, where learners do not yet have the resources to attempt a target task before being taught it; lessons centred on a single new structure or a tight lexical set, where a clear input phase pays off; and contexts where teacher and learners both benefit from a predictable shape. Beginners and trainees often find linear lessons easier to follow because the staging signals clearly what is happening when.
The shape's known weakness is the assumption that input precedes need. Learners who have already met the target structure may find the Study stage redundant, while learners who lack the prerequisite vocabulary may stall in the Activate stage. The shape also concentrates novelty in one block — if the Study stage misfires, the Activate stage has no resources to recover. Boomerang Lesson and Patchwork Lesson were proposed partly as responses to these limits, letting evidence from learner performance reshape the input rather than fix it in advance.
Harmer presents straight-arrow lessons as one tool among three rather than as the default, and notes that experienced teachers cycle through all three shapes depending on level, content, and what the previous lesson revealed.
References
- Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English (New ed.). Pearson Longman.
- Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Education.